A new test has confirmed that the base PlayStation 5 is highly capable of emulating PlayStation 3 games at a hardware level. This discovery has opened up new possibilities for gamers and enthusiasts alike. The PlayStation 5's silicon, as showcased in a new video by Lowest Logan on YouTube, is being put to use in an interesting way. An AMD BC-250 mining card, which likely repurposes chips not meeting the console's full specifications, is being used for this emulation test. It comes with 16 GB of GDDR6 RAM but has some limitations compared to the actual PS5 hardware, with two CPU cores disabled and only 24 out of 32 compute units available.

Overcoming Challenges for Smooth Emulation

To get the AMD BC-250 to run games like the PlayStation 5 hardware it is based on, Lowest Logan faced numerous challenges. Both Windows and Linux distros did not run properly initially. However, through extensive experimentation, the YouTuber managed to get everything up and running. He tested some PlayStation 3 games via the excellent RPCS3 emulator, proving that the claim that PS3 emulation is too computationally heavy for the PS5 is false. Games like Gran Turismo 5 Prologue and Little Big Planet ran well at both native and higher resolutions, maintaining steady framerates despite some hardware limitations over the actual PS5. For instance, the GPU driver only saw a single memory clock state for the GPU at 450 Mhz, which put it on the same level as an RX 480 GPU, a much weaker card compared to the RX 6700 GPU that the PS5 GPU is close to. This shows that even with a significant amount of performance left on the table, the current generation console is more than capable of running PlayStation 3 games.

Current Status of PlayStation 3 Games on PlayStation 5

As of now, only select PlayStation 3 games are available on PlayStation 5, and this is through game streaming. A PlayStation Plus Premium subscription is required to access these titles. More information on this subscription tier can be found here. This limited availability highlights the potential for further expansion and development in the future. While the current setup is impressive, there is room for growth and improvement. The ability to run PlayStation 3 games on the PS5 opens up a world of nostalgia and allows gamers to revisit their favorite titles in a new light. It also showcases the power and versatility of the PlayStation 5 hardware.

Future Prospects and Possibilities

The successful emulation of PlayStation 3 games on the PlayStation 5 opens up exciting possibilities for the future. It suggests that with further advancements in technology and software development, more PlayStation 3 games could potentially be made available directly on the console. This could lead to a wider range of gaming options for PlayStation 5 owners and enhance the overall gaming experience. Additionally, it could inspire developers to explore more creative ways to utilize the console's hardware capabilities. The emulation process itself also provides valuable insights into the performance and limitations of different hardware components, which can inform future console designs and optimizations. It is an area that holds great potential for both gamers and the gaming industry as a whole.